Complicated Feelings
by TKViedarts
Summary: TK is going through a rough time. The feelings he thought he had for Kari, weren't actually there and now he's having feelings for another friend instead. How is he going to cope with everything going on in his muddled up head. Daikeru Daisuke/Takeru. Rated M for future chapters. First fic, hope everyone enjoys.
1. Chapter 1

The bell rang, its noise echoing through the hallways as students hustled and bustled to escape the dreary confines of the school and to a weekend of care-free fun.

TK walked slowly and solemnly towards the exit as students hurried past him. He stared forward blankly, deep in thought. All day long he had been pondering, different plans and outcomes swirling around in his mind, so oblivious to everything else that he had been scolded twice by his math teacher for daydreaming and not paying attention.

He reached the exit, still lost in his thoughts when a voice called out to him and snapped him out of his trance.

"TK over here!" Yolei called. TK looked over and feigned a slight smile, as much as he enjoyed the presence of his friends he had been hoping he could avoid them, at least for a little while. "What's the matter TK?" Yolei asked adjusting her glasses as she looked TK up and down questioningly.

"Nothing's wrong…" TK lied

"You're going to have to lie better than that," Yolei scoffed.

"Yeah TK," Davis chuckled, "nothing gets past Yolei, you should know that by now. What's up?"

TK hesitated, trying to think of an answer when a call from behind them caught their attention.

"Hey guys!" Kari shouted, TK felt his stomach plummet as he saw her run towards them. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly sensing some tension in the air.

"TK's hiding something," Davis joked, "maybe he's cheating on you or something."

"Shut-up!" Yolei snapped as she clubbed Davis on the head making Davis whine in pain and cower as she aimed another swing at him.

"What's wrong TK?" Kari asked staring deeply into TK's eyes as if she was able to look into his soul and find the answer.

TK stared at his feet unable to look Kari directly in the eyes. He had been worried about this all day long, but he knew that he couldn't keep up this charade any longer. He looked up at her sheepishly.

"Kari, could we talk… in private?"

"Sure TK." she said as TK led her away from Yolei and Davis, Davis made another mocking remark and Yolei's foot connected with his shin making him yelp in pain.

When they were far enough out of earshot Kari asked, "What's wrong TK? I know something is up, you haven't been yourself lately."

"Well, it's just that…" TK paused, thinking. He had been making up scenarios in his head all day, figuring out the best way to say things, but in the end every scenario ended the same way, badly.

"TK?"

"Wha-? Oh sorry Kari, I must've zoned out or something."

"TK please," Kari begged, "if there's something wrong you can tell me."

"Kari…I-I… I…," he stuttered.

Kari seeming to know the answer decided to break the silence herself, "You want to break up with me…don't you?" she managed, a hint of sadness in her voice.

TK looked into Kari's eyes, a slight bit of shock on his face. He had made up several plots in his head of what was going to happen, he hadn't expected Kari to know what he was going to say, but the fact that she knew hurt him even more.

TK looked back to his feet. "I'm sorry Kari," he said sadly, "I don't want to hurt you, and I really do like you Kari, it's just…".

"You don't feel that way about me, do you?"

TK continued staring at his feet, he could feel tears welling up in his eyes, he could only imagine how Kari had to be feeling.

"I'm sorry," he sniffled, "I-I'm so sorry." he could feel tears starting to flow down his face.

Kari stared up at TK, confused. He was the one crying yet she was the one getting dumped. Unsure how to react she reached her hand out to grab TK's shoulder but before she could he backed away.

He turned away, wiping his tears on his sleeve. "I-I'm sorry, I should go…" and without a second thought he bolted towards the schoolyard gates leaving Kari behind. Yolei and Davis watched on dumbfounded unable to figure out what had just happened in such a short conversation.

"Kari what's going?" Yolei asked as her and Davis walked over and joined her.

"What's up with TK, why did he just run off?" Davis asked, confused by something other than his classes for once.

Kari stared right through them, thoughts swimming in her mind. She could hear Yolei and Davis continue questioning her but she ignored them.

"I'm gonna go home," she said finally, leaving Yolei and Davis even more confused than they already were as she walked away.

* * *

Matt sat on the sofa staring blankly at the television, trying his best to ignore Tai who had been pestering him for the past hour.

"Aww, come on Matt," Tai whined as he brushed his fingers through Matt's blonde unkempt hair, "nobody's going to be home for a couple hours, what's wrong with fooling around just a little bit."

"Come on Tai, I'm trying to watch TV," Matt groaned as Tai continued running his hands through his hair. He didn't like anyone messing with his hair, Tai was the exception, although he was still rather annoyed. "What if someone comes home early?"

"Nobody will come home early. My dad's working late, my mom's out with her girlfriends until later and Kari and TK were going to go on a date. See? Nothing to worry about," he teased as he started running his other hand up Matt's shirt.

Matt blushed. Tai certainly was persistent… and his hands felt pretty soft too. He pondered for a moment.

"Alright fine," he caved, "but nothing too hot and heavy, just in case."

Tai practically threw himself onto Matt and the two locked lips, if only for a second when Matt heard the door start to open. He grabbed Tai by the shoulders and threw him off suddenly.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Oh, hey Kari," Matt called towards the door as he saw her enter trying to act as cool as possible.

"Oh! Hey Matt," she said, sounding slightly surprised seeing the tall blonde, "Where's my brother?"

"Kari? What are you doing home so early, I thought you and TK had a date," Tai asked as he stood up and brushed himself off. He was rather irritated that his fun time had been cut short.

"No reason," she said trying to hide the slight depression in her voice. She went into the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for a small snack.

With Kari's back turned momentarily Tai playfully grabbed a hold of Matt by his waist pulling him closer so he could kiss his neck.

"Tai quit it!" Matt shouted as he pried himself from Tai's grip.

Kari turned her head and looked at the two boys, both trying to keep straight looks on their faces. She raised an eyebrow at them, smirking.

"You know, you don't have to hide anything from me, I know what's going on," she said, acting completely normal.

"Wha-what are you talking about Kari?" Tai asked, trying to stay cool.

"I know you guys are together so you can stop acting coy around me."

The two boys turned red in embarrassment, "B-but how did you know?" Matt asked worriedly.

"I saw you guys making out a couple weeks ago in your van, Matt," she stated as if it were just a completely normal occurrence to see your brother and your… ex… boyfriend's brother going at it like wild animals.

"Tai!" Matt grumbled, "I keep telling you to quit starting things in public, I knew someone would catch us eventually."

"Uhh, if I remember correctly," Tai started, "the last time we were in your van, you were the one acting like you were a bitch in heat." Matt glared at Tai like he was about to tear his face off.

"Guys, guys calm down," Kari shouted, hoping to prevent another break-up "it's okay, I don't have a problem with it."

Tai and Matt paused their bickering and stared at Kari, only just realizing what she had said.

"Wait, so you don't care that we're… you know…" Tai asked.

"Gay? Of course not, why would I? You're my brother Tai, I'll love you no matter what. And Matt, you've been like an older brother to me too, I'll always care about you no matter what. Besides, you two make a really cute couple," she grinned.

The two boys blushed then moved over and gave Kari a warm hug.

"Kari, you're the best sister in the world," Tai beamed, he could feel his eyes beginning to water, "I was worried you were going to hate us or something."

Kari looked up into the two boys' faces and smiled, "Like I said Tai, you're my brother, and Matt practically is too. I could never hate either of you just for loving each other."

"Thanks Kari," Matt grinned, "but could you keep this a secret for us?" Kari could sense the worry in the blonde's voice.

"But why?," she asked, puzzled, "I'm sure everyone else would be just fine with you two."

"It's not that, it's just… we kind of wanted to tell everyone else ourselves, you know, the next time we all get together."

Kari smiled in understanding, "Of course, if you two want to tell everyone else yourselves, then that's fine with me. Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks Kari," Matt said, and then another thought dawned on him, "Oh and uhh… could you, maybe not tell TK either? I know you guys are always telling each other things in confidence, but I wanted to tell TK myself."

"Oh, uhm… sure… yeah, that's fine with me." she stammered and her face fell. Matt and Tai both realized that something was bothering her.

"Kari, is something wrong? You aren't your normal, cheerful self," Tai asked, worried about his little sister.

Matt seemed to sense what was wrong and without hesitation asked her, "Kari, did something happen between you and TK?" Kari nodded slowly, and she could finally begin to feel the tears welling up in her soft brown eyes.

Tai immediately jumped into the role of protective big brother, his face turned red and he started to shout angrily, "What happened Kari? What did TK do? Oh, if he did anything to hurt you I'm gonna kill him."

Matt frowned at Tai, not especially pleased at the threat to his little brother's wellbeing, "Tai, if you want to hurt my baby brother, we're gonna have a big problem here."

Tai went to open his mouth to retort back but Kari stepped in to stop another argument, "Guys, stop it, I don't want you breaking up too." Matt and Tai stopped allowing what Kari had just said to sink in. Matt was the first to ask.

"TK broke up with you?"

Kari realized she had just given away the answer to her problem and turned away as her face turned red. She had hoped she could have kept this to herself for a little while, so that she could think about it in peace. Of course she knew that Tai would have dragged it out of her eventually anyway. She turned back to face the two boys and nodded her head slowly.

Tai remained speechless. He had always pictured TK and Kari as the perfect couple, well besides Matt and himself. He had even been the one to urge TK to ask Kari out (which originally had seemed like a poor idea even to himself; encouraging a boy to make a move on his sister - although TK had been a much better idea than Davis). Tai remained staring, open-mouthed, ready to catch flies, trying to wrap his head around what could have gone wrong between the perfect little couple.

Matt was the one to break the silence, "Kari what happened? Why did TK break up with you?"

Kari opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again, pondering to herself about the reason that TK had given her. But that was the thing, TK had said next nothing, she had guessed it by herself and had been able to figure out all the reasons as well. She realized that she had known it was coming for a while, she just hadn't wanted to believe it herself. She also realized that, even though it hurt, she didn't feel like her heart had been ripped out her chest, the way it appeared in all the silly movies she had watched and the way that other girls at school reacted when they got dumped. Really, it wasn't a total surprise that she and TK were breaking up. Everything she had guessed as to why TK was dumping her, were the same feelings she had had herself for a little while now.

"Kari?… Are you okay?" Matt asked, pulling Kari out of her thoughts.

Kari wiped away the few tears she had shed and looked up into the older boys' faces and smiled, "I'm fine."

"Fine?" Tai asked bewildered, "Kari, TK broke up with you, how are you 'fine'. Girls saying that they're 'fine' means that they are totally not fine."

"Tai calm down. Okay, I'll admit, it hurts a little, but…"

"But what?" the older boys asked.

"But… I kind of saw this coming," she said rather sadly as she moved towards the couch to sit down. The two boys followed her, each sitting on one side of the girl and wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Kari, what's going on?" Tai asked, deeply concerned that his sister had taken a blow to the head. Most girls did not react this calmly to being dumped, then again, Kari wasn't most girls.

"Well, it's just…do you guys remember when we went to see that fireworks show back in August?" The boys nodded and she continued, "Well, that was when TK and I, had our very first kiss, I mean not the little kisses we always gave each other on the cheek, but a real mouth to mouth, deep and passionate kiss." Tai shook his head, trying not to picture his sweet baby sister doing something not quite so innocent.

"But you guys had been going out since Christmas. You only took things this far now?" Matt asked, feeling rather shocked. Tai and himself had done quite a lot more than Kari and TK had done in the same time frame.

"Well, we were just as content holding hands and giving each other little kisses. Neither of us had actually made a move to go any farther than that."

"Okay, fair enough… so you two kissed, and then what?"

"Well… there were fireworks going off around us, but…"

"No fireworks of your own." Tai blurted out as if he had known exactly how the two young teens had felt at their most intimate moment.

"Tai!" Matt squawked, rather embarrassed that his boyfriend had been as insincere as he had been about something so emotional.

Kari however, seemed completely fine with her brother's response. She nodded her head, knowing that what Tai had said described the situation completely. She reached a hand up to stop Matt from smacking his not so subtle boyfriend and continued.

"Exactly. There was nothing. It was an amazing kiss, I'll say that much. But I just… didn't feel anything. And after that, everything seemed different between us. And when TK wanted to talk to me today I could just tell… he was breaking up with me."

Tai wrapped his arm around his little sister tightly, "Are you feeling okay Kari?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Tai, don't worry about me," she leaned into her brother and gave him a hug. Then she realized that even though she wasn't hurting from the break-up, someone else was. She sat upright, worry crossing her face, "TK!" was all she managed to say.

"What about TK?" Matt asked, concern rising for his younger brother.

"Well it's just that… even though TK was breaking up with me… he was the one that seemed the most hurt by it. He started to cry and he kept apologizing to me and before I could stop him he had run off." Kari rose from her seat, preparing to go see how TK was. Even if they were no longer boyfriend and girlfriend, they were still friends, and she wasn't about to leave him feeling as depressed as he seemed.

Matt sensed what she was planning and grabbed her arm, "Don't worry about TK, I'll go talk to him." Matt stood up, leaned over and gave Tai a peck on the cheek, grabbed his jacket and left without another word.

The two brunette siblings sat together silently for a moment. Kari leaned against her brother as he wrapped his arm around her again.

"Are you sure you're okay Kari?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. It still hurts though."

"It's alright Kari, I'm here." A thought dawned on the boy and he stood up suddenly, moving towards the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"The cure to any break-up bad or… well I guess not many break-ups are anything other than bad, but I digress…"

Kari turned around facing the kitchen, seeing a large mop of brunette hair stuffed in the freezer. "Big brother what on earth are you…"

Tai's head popped out of the freezer, he held up a large tub of ice cream and smiled his signature wide and goofy grin. "Nothing fixes a break-up better than ice cream and a lame chick flick," he said as he grabbed two spoons and bounced into the living room. He handed the ice cream to Kari then began searching for a movie to watch.

Kari laughed. Even though he could be a real blockhead, she knew Tai was always there for her when she needed him. She opened the ice cream and helped herself to a large spoonful of chocolate, "Don't pick a sappy movie, I don't wanna watch something depressing, pick something funny," she managed to say even with a mouthful of the frozen treat.

Tai popped in a movie, jumped back onto the couch and grabbed the second spoon, digging in and shovelling more than any normal human being could fit into their mouth.

Kari laughed again but made a slight complaint, "Hey take it slow, I don't wanna hear you whine when you get an ice cream headache like you did the last time." Tai smirked then shovelled an even bigger spoonful into his mouth just to spite her, although it made her laugh even harder.

"Tai?"

"Hwhrt?" he managed through a mouthful of chocolate.

"How did you know… that when we kissed… there were no…"

"Sparks?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it was the same for me and Sora. The first time we kissed, I was expecting to feel something like, a bomb going off in my head. But instead… the bomb was a dud."

"And what do you feel when you kiss Matt?"

Kari noticed Tai's eyes glaze over and a smile spread across his face, different than his normal goofy grins, "It's the most amazing feeling in the world. My whole body heats up and I just feel light-headed. It's impossible to describe with words."

"You two really love each other." "Yeah… but don't worry Kari, I'm sure you'll find your Matt in shining armour one day as well."

"Thanks Tai."

* * *

Matt knocked on the door to his mother's and brother's apartment. He stood and waited for a moment. No answer. He figured this wasn't going to be easy, luckily he had a spare key and he decided to just let himself in.

Closing the door behind him quietly, he looked around, surprisingly the apartment seemed rather clean. Their mom was to be away for work for around 6 weeks; it was only into the second week of her trip and Matt half expected the apartment to be a complete disaster. A teenage boy with the house all to himself, Matt didn't think TK would keep things so clean and spotless.

"TK?" Matt called out. Silence. Matt figured TK wouldn't answer but he tried anyway. Even though they hadn't lived together their entire lives, Matt knew how TK could be when he was upset. He would lock himself in his room, lay in his bed and cry, often turning music on to drown out his sobbing.

Matt had learned from previous experiences that it was best to leave his little brother alone when he was really upset. More often than not, attempts to make him feel better would result in him becoming more upset or even angry and Matt didn't like making TK feel worse than he already was so he would usually leave him to cry things out. This time however, Matt felt he needed to comfort his little brother.

He stopped when he noticed a picture sitting on a side table. All four of them, Matt, TK, their mom and dad, all sat together at one table, all smiling. Together. He picked it up and stared at it. It was from a party they had had a couple years ago.

He remembered how happy their mother had been when she found out she had been hired as a journalist for Kyodo News two years earlier. The editor of the paper had been so impressed with her work that he had called her personally to tell her they wanted to hire her. They had a huge celebration party for her and everything.

A couple months ago when they asked her to go abroad for about 6 weeks to cover stories in Europe and America, she jumped at the chance. Things were rather tense between her and TK for a short time after she decided to go however. She wanted him to stay with his father and Matt, but TK had felt he was old enough to take care of himself. At first she refused to agree with him; a couple days home alone was one thing, but six weeks, she was going to agree to nothing of the sort.

Eventually though they came to a compromise: TK could stay at home by himself so long as his father and Matt could come by and check in on him every so often and she would call to check in when the chance arose; and as long as he behaved himself, in other words, keeping the house clean and not having any wild escapades going on in the apartment (although she knew TK was not the sort to do anything remotely wild - that was more like something Matt would do). The final part to their agreement was that, at any time, if she, his father or Matt decided he shouldn't be on his own any longer, then he would have to pack his things immediately and stay over at his father's until she returned.

Matt had been a little confused why TK didn't want to spend time with him and their dad. He had even asked him at one point why he didn't immediately agree to come stay with them, TK had originally just given him some half-assed answer but after some time to think Matt had made his own assumptions. He figured TK was just looking forward to having a little independence (sort of). And of course, being all alone had its perks. He knew what he liked to do around the apartment when he had been TK's age (heck he still did most of those things, sometimes with Tai too) when his dad was at work all day or all night, and he figured TK would be up to the same things as well, having the place to himself. That's why he made sure to always knock before he came around to check on him.

Now however, Matt was looking past his original 'suggestive' ideas and thinking more towards TK wanting to be alone specifically so he could be left alone.

Matt put the picture back and looked down the hallway. TK's door was closed. He couldn't hear any music, but then why would he have to turn on any if he was home all alone. Matt moved quietly down the hall towards TK's bedroom, being careful not to step on the squeaky floorboard and give himself away. He stopped at TK's door and put his ear against it. He could hear TK quietly sobbing. He stood and thought about how to proceed but decided to just wing it. He knocked on the door.

"TK?" Matt noticed that the crying immediately stopped. "TK, I came to see how you were doing. Can I come in?"

"It's unlocked."

Matt turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. TK was laid on his bed, his face buried in his pillow. Matt slowly made his way over to the bed and sat down next to his brother, he hesitated as he slowly reached a hand out to TK's back and slowly began rubbing his back in an attempt to comfort him.

"Are you okay TK?" he asked, although he felt it was a dumb question, otherwise TK wouldn't have been crying.

"Just peachy," the younger blonde retorted, "now could you leave me alone?"

"I was just over with Tai and saw Kari. I heard what happened."

"How is she?" he asked, his face still in his pillow, muffling his question somewhat.

"Well, I'm not sure exactly, I came right over here to find out how you were. Now could you sit up so we can talk face to face? I'm not here to lecture you I just wanna make sure you're doing all right."

"I'm fine," he said rather abruptly.

"Then you won't mind sitting up and talking with me."

TK groaned then reluctantly shifted himself so that he was sitting up facing his older brother. Matt moved himself so that the two brothers were sitting next to each other, he wrapped his arm around TK and pulled him closer. TK leaned his head on his older brother's shoulder and the two sat silently for a moment. Matt was about to break the silence when TK started to cry again. Matt looked sadly onto his little brother, trying to figure out the best way to comfort him, it made his heart ache when his baby brother was in pain.

"It's okay, it's okay TK, I'm here," he cooed as he pulled his brother into a tight embrace.

"Is-is she o-o-okay?" TK asked through his tears, "Is Kari okay?"

"Well she seemed upset," Matt could feel TK start to whimper harder at this, "b-but then she started saying she was feeling okay and-" he started trying not to upset TK any more than he already was.

"And what?" TK asked angrily as he pulled away from his brother, tears continuing to sting his eyes.

"Well, she was actually more worried about you TK," TK moved away from Matt, sitting with his knees pulled into his chest and his face buried in his arms. "TK, what happened?" he tried to ask as kindly as possible.

"We broke up," he said rather gruffly, "what else do you think happened?"

Matt could sense TK was becoming irritated, he tried to calm his voice to sound as sincere and as caring as possible so as not to anger the young boy.

"But what happened? You two seemed so happy together, and… Kari said you were the one ending things and you seemed so upset by it. Why TK? What's going on?"

TK pulled himself from his brother's embrace, he was starting to feel annoyed by his brother's intrusion. He had hoped to just lay in bed for the rest of the night. Alone. He was about to make another sarcastic comment like his last but then saw the hurt feeling in his brother's deep blue eyes. He realized his brother was worried about him.

"I don't know anymore," he said solemnly.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, all this time, I thought I liked Kari. Like she was the one for me…"

"She told us, me and Tai. You guys kissed and…"

"And then I realized I didn't actually love her," TK finished. Tears started to form in his eyes again and before he knew it he had lost control and his body wracked with sobs again. Matt moved next to his younger brother again and wrapped his arms around him to comfort him as best he could.

"Don't cry TK, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine."

"No it's not. I'm a horrible person, a horrible friend. Kari probably hates me now."

Matt felt rather shocked by this last statement, "but, why would she hate you? Kari couldn't hate you TK."

"I just broke up with her, without any warning. I know she liked me and I just…," he trailed off as he began crying again.

"TK, she's going to be alright… and honestly, Kari made it seem like she knew already."

TK stopped crying and looking questioningly into his brothers eyes.

"What do you mean she already knew?"

"Well, she told us how after you two had kissed that she hadn't felt that spark either, she said she had been kind of expecting things to stop between you two eventually. So really, there's no reason to be upset TK."

"But, what if she was just saying that because she knew that's what you would tell me. She had been so happy lately and so excited to go on our dates, and…," his voice trailed off and Matt could tell he was about to start crying again.

"TK look, if you didn't have feelings for Kari, then it was the honest thing to do to end things between you if there was no chance of things progressing." Matt said trying to ease TK's pain with reasoning, "would you rather have spent years with her, feeling nothing and leading her on, making her think that you had a future together?"

"Well… no… I guess… when you say it like that…"

"See, then you shouldn't be sad TK, everything is going to be fine."

"But Matt! I saw the hurt in her eyes when I was trying to break up with her, she looked so sad and disappointed. She still means so much to me as a friend, what if this ruins things between us?"

"Remember what happened when me and Sora broke up?"

"She refused to even be in the same air space as you for a week," TK said, a little sarcastically. Matt rolled his eyes, but he felt better that at least TK was starting to show some of his normal attitude again.

"Yeah, but after that initial week of hostility, we talked again, and we got over it together, and now we're still really close friends, and you and Kari will still stay really close friends."

TK stayed silent, instead looking down at the floor.

"Come on," Matt said as he pulled his brother into a hug. TK returned the embrace, letting out a heavy sigh as if he had been holding his breath for the entire conversation. Matt let go of TK and held his head in his hands, looking into his brother's tear streaked face, "is everything alright now?"

"Yeah…," TK sniffed.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked, noticing that TK clearly wasn't feeling any better despite there being a better understanding of the situation.

"It's just," the younger boy started, "I tried so hard… to feel something, but… nothing."

"There's nothing wrong with that TK, you either feel it or you don't, and Kari isn't going to hold it against you."

TK nodded agreeably, "Okay."

"But… if I could ask…," Matt began, sounding slightly devilish as a wicked grin crossed his face, "is there someone that you might have feelings for?"

"Matt!?" TK cried, rather embarrassed as his cheeks blushed.

"What?! I'm just asking, I mean, maybe the reason you couldn't have feelings for Kari is because you have feelings for this other person instead."

Instead of retaliating with a crude response as he normally would to his older brother's taunts, TK remained quiet as the blush spread across his face even more.

Matt caught on and used the chance to question even further, "come on lil' bro' you can tell me."

"No… there isn't someone else."

Matt was about to accuse him of lying when he noticed that the mood of the conversation has once again returned to a sullen one.

"What do you mean? Come on TK, if there wasn't some girl on your mind you wouldn't have blushed like you just did."

TK winced slightly at Matt's statement, though it went unnoticed.

"It's just… I'm not sure… _who_… I like. I've just… I've been feeling sort of confused lately, about everything, as if nothing makes sense anymore and I'm just losing my mind, and…," his voice began to quiver as he began panicking, as if he were struggling to find another breath.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down, it's okay TK, there's no reason to get upset again. Love is a confusing thing. Look if you don't want to tell me who it is you don't have to. I was just teasing, that's what big brothers do."

"Matt?"

"Yeah TK?"

"You'll love me, no matter what right?"

"Of course TK, why would you even ask such a thing?"

"I just… wanted to be sure, that's all."

Matt pulled him into an even tighter embrace, "No matter what TK, I will always be there for you, I will always love you. Never question that. You can always count on me."

TK pulled away from his brother, wiping a final tear from his eye. His smile returned to his face and his usual happy glow showed itself again.

"Thanks big brother."

"Anytime TK. Now, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"No, not right now."

"You sure? You can tell me anything."

"Maybe later."

"Okay."

"If you don't mind, I'd kinda like to just have some time to myself, if that's okay?"

"Yeah sure TK, if you need anything just call me. Okay?"

"Okay."

Matt stood up, taking one last look at his brother as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

As he left the apartment, he thought to himself about the last part of the talk he had had with his younger brother. Something about the conversation unsettled him, and he had a feeling he understood what TK had meant by feeling confused, although he felt it best not to push the subject. He knew that TK would tell him when the time was right.

* * *

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know what you think. It might be a while before another chapter comes out but be patient.**

**Also if there's any discrepancies between the names (Japanese/dubbed) let me know, I'll try to keep things organized name-wise. **


	2. Chapter 2

TK woke with a start upon hearing his phone ringing. Not moving from his laying position in bed he reached over to his nightstand and picked up his phone. Matt. Again. TK put the phone back down and rolled over to face away as if it would magically make his cell stop ringing. Of course, it didn't and the phone continued to ring several more times before going silent. A moment's peace, until it started ringing again. TK ignored it completely this time, knowing full well it would be his older brother again.

It was Sunday afternoon, and TK had been going through the same routine since seeing his brother Friday evening. Laying in bed, checking his phone whenever it rang, and ignoring it when he saw who it was who called.

He had already received several calls from his brother in the last couple days, many of them one after the other. As well as calls from Tai (although TK was sure it was just Matt borrowing Tai's cell - the two were almost always hanging out together), Sora, Kari, Davis, Yolei, Ken, and Cody. Naturally he would have just ignored his phone altogether, but he had been waiting for his mom to call. He had not heard from her since her first night of her trip and he had been feeling more and more upset each night that she didn't call.

He had practically stayed in bed all weekend, not eating and barely sleeping, just mulling things over in his head. Trying to figure out what was wrong with him, why the person he felt so close to, didn't make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside like he thought he was supposed to feel. He continued to feel guilty about the way things ended between the two friends. Even though his brother's words of encouragement had helped him, albeit slightly, he still felt badly for dumping Kari so suddenly, and even if she had apparently been okay on the matter, TK was sure she was still hurting as much as he was.

He turned over to once again look at his ringing phone. It was Kari this time. He thought about answering it, but decided it best to leave it for the time being. He half suspected it was his brother hijacking her phone hoping to trick him into answering anyway.

He knew he couldn't avoid his brother or his friends forever, Yolei would yell his ear off on Monday at school as soon as she saw him, and Matt was likely to come knocking on the door any minute now. TK didn't care, he just wanted to be alone for the time being. No matter how long or short that time was.

* * *

Kari continued to pace the floor of her and Tai's bedroom, holding her phone and patiently waiting for an answer from the other end.

"Still no answer?" Davis asked the young brunette girl.

"No, nothing, he still won't pick up," Kari responded, rather sullenly as she hung up.

"Why won't he answer?" Davis asked, "I thought we were going to go to the Digital World today together."

"I'll call him, he won't refuse me," Yolei chimed in angrily.

Kari reached her hand out to stop her, "Yolei, just leave it. Maybe TK just wants to be alone right now. Matt tells me he hasn't been answering anyone's calls this weekend, so I think it's best if we just let him be."

"Wow Kari, you sure are acting fine about all this," Cody added quietly, "are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine guys," Kari blushed as several pairs of eyes turned towards her, "I mean, yeah, I was feeling down at first, but I know now it's for the best, and hopefully TK will see that too."

"Well, I hope so," Davis said, leaning back in his chair, "it's not like TK to miss spending time with Patamon."

"Well, just because he's not coming, doesn't mean we can't go and enjoy ourselves," Yolei huffed, "Digiport Open!"

A flash of white light and the five teens were transported from Kari's bedroom to the Digital World.

* * *

"Still no answer?" Tai asked as he watched Matt continue to move around the apartment. "Y'know, if you keep pacing like that you'll fall through to the neighbours downstairs."

"Shut up!" the blonde snapped angrily.

"I told you before, maybe he just wants to be left alone."

"I said shut up!"

With extreme caution, Tai took the phone from his boyfriend's hands and set it down on the table, then pulled the boy over to the couch to sit next to him.

"Look, he's just trying to get over what happened between him and Kari. He needs some time alone, I'm positive he's fine," Tai said, staring into Matt's blue eyes, trying to calm him down.

"But when I saw him on Friday he could barely stop from crying."

"Then let him cry it out. He'll think things over this weekend, and then he'll be back to his bright and cheerful self again."

"You sure?" Matt asked worriedly.

"Matt you worry too much, your brother is 16 now, he doesn't need you there for him every second of the day anymore."

Matt bowed his head, feeling somewhat hurt. He knew TK was old enough to take care of himself now, but he still felt the need to be there for him like a big brother should.

Tai pulled Matt closer to him as the blonde laid his head on the brunette's shoulder. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes trying not to think about what could be going through his little brother's mind.

* * *

"Digiport Open!"

The hardwood floor of his bedroom disappeared beneath his feet and in a momentary flash of white light was replaced by lush green grass as TK stepped into an open field near a vast forest in the Digital World. He took in a deep breath as he surveyed his surroundings. This was the perfect place for him to clear his mind and relax after a week of constant heavy thinking. And it would be nice to spend some time with his best friend.

As if by some psychic connection through Digimon and partner, Patamon came flying towards TK from the nearby trees.

"TK!" the little winged Digimon cried happily as he flew circles around his partner's head. TK tried to catch Patamon to give him a hug but the little Digimon began to fly towards the trees, beckoning the blonde to follow.

"Patamon, where are we going?" he asked as he tried to keep up with the little flying ball of energy ahead of him.

"The others were worried about you, come on!"

TK halted in his tracks causing his winged friend to stop as well.

"What's wrong TK?" he asked, his big curious eyes as innocent as always.

TK had just realized that they had all planned on coming to the Digital World today, but with the chaos of everything that had happened over the last couple days it had completely slipped his mind.

He was about to answer Patamon's question when he heard a shout.

"Patamon! Where'd you go?" TK recognized Davis and Veemon's voices calling in unison. He wanted to grab hold of Patamon and run the other way but it was too late, the bouncing goggle-headed boy and his blue Digimon partner had broken through the edge of the woods in the clearing.

"TK?!" Davis stood there in shock. "Y-you're here," a mix of happiness and confusion crossed his face.

Soon all the others had come through the woods to join the two boys and their Digimon, each of them exclaiming their joy and mixed confusion when they saw TK. All TK could do was blush in embarrassment as he stared at the ground.

"TK?" came a quiet voice in front of him.

He didn't need to look up to know that it was Kari. He continued staring at his shoes, unable to make eye contact with the concerned girl.

"TK?" she repeated, but he continued looking at the ground, unable to muster the courage to look at her face for fear he might breakdown again.

Kari gripped TK's wrist tightly causing the boy to look up suddenly out of shock as she started dragging him away from the others.

"Come on, we need to talk," she spoke sternly and he obeyed her as she continued pulling him into the trees.

* * *

"Now come on TK, why are avoiding me? Avoiding everyone else? Matt's been worried sick about you… and so have I…," she shouted, becoming increasingly angry with each word.

"I'm sorry Kari, I didn't mean to worry you… it's just…," he trailed off as he could feel tears beginning to sting at his eyes.

"TK, don't cry," she moved closer and pulled him into a hug.

Unsure how to react, TK instinctively returned the hug. It felt warm. It felt safe. But still, he couldn't feel anything else towards her, he pushed her away suddenly and turned his back to her.

"TK, what's wrong? I know we broke up, but, I mean, you seem to be taking this so much harder than me. Matt told me how upset you were, but you need to understand, I'm okay, and, to be honest… I'm kind of relieved."

TK turned his head and saw tears staining Kari's cheeks. Once again, on instinct, TK took hold of her, embracing her in his arms.

"I'm sorry TK," she sobbed.

"Don't be sorry Kari, it's not your fault, it's mine. I should've talked with you first, I should've told you how I was feeling instead of just ending things the way I did. I feel horrible." Holding her face in his hands he looked into her eyes, "Can you forgive me Kari?"

A smile crossed her lips and she buried her face into his chest.

"Oh, TK… there's nothing to forgive." The two continued to hold each other tightly before, reluctantly letting go and stepping apart. Kari broke the following awkward silence.

"I know how you feel… how you felt. After that kiss… at the fireworks… I felt differently… I wasn't sure but I just ignored it and kept things going with you because I thought, maybe, we could find that spark. But… we didn't. I'll admit, it did hurt a little when you broke up with me, but, at the same time, I was kind of glad. Does… that make me a bad person?"

"No Kari of course not," he paused, thinking of the right thing to say next before simply saying, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For the way I handled this."

"What do you mean TK?"

"Well, I should've talked to you first about all this, instead I just acted like a big jerk and dumped you without any warning."

"TK, you're not a jerk. If anyone here is a jerk it's me. I knew how upset you were and I should've tried to comfort you."

"No Kari, don't blame yourself. I probably wouldn't have wanted to talk anyway, I didn't even really want to talk to Matt, but, you know how persistent he can be."

"I know, Tai can be the same way."

"Those two are almost too alike," TK chuckled.

"They're almost like twins… or an old married couple."

The two laughed at the thought, then they were surrounded by silence once more.

"Kari?"

"Yeah TK?"

"I hope that… we can still be friends after this."

"Of course TK. That's what I was worried about the most… that this would ruin our friendship."

"I would never let anything ruin our friendship Kari," and he pulled her into a another hug. This one felt warmer and safer than the previous one. And a smile crossed the blonde's lips.

* * *

"Shush!" Yolei shouted at the boys, "they're coming back."

They watched as TK and Kari entered the clearing together, hand-in-hand, and broad smiles on both of their faces. Yolei squealed and clapped both hands together.

"So you two patched things up and you're back together?" she asked excitedly running up to them.

"No," Kari said, disappointment crossed Yolei's face as she looked the two up and down.

"But why?" she whined, "you two were so happy together."

"It might've seemed that way Yolei…" the blonde began.

"Buuuut?" Yolei interrupted, a grimace crossing her lips, the boy began to feel rather unsettled. Yolei could be rather dangerous when she was mad.

"But," Kari stepped in trying to save the blonde from a beating, "we realized we didn't really have those kinds of feelings for each other."

Yolei gave a heavy sigh rather irritated, she continued to stare at TK feeling that it was mostly his fault her favourite couple had broken up.

"But that doesn't mean we can't still be friends," TK said as he turned to face Kari, gripping her hand a little tighter as he smiled.

"You should be happy Yolei," Kari beamed, "now you and Ken are the only power couple out of us Digidestined."

"I guess…" she groaned.

"Gee, I feel so loved." Ken chimed in sarcastically behind her.

"Oh you know I love you honey," Yolei called back trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"Plus, now you can play matchmaker for Kari now," TK added. The blonde winced as Kari smacked him in the arm. He looked at her and realized the sheer terror written on the brunette's face and remembered how Yolei had played 'matchmaker' when Matt had broken up with Sora.

Yolei had practically taken control of the poor girl's life for an entire week, making every single decision for her including what she ate and how she dressed and setting her up on countless blind dates with guys that Yolei had dubbed 'cute', 'perfect', and 'better than that lowlife rock star wannabe'. Eventually Sora faked having the flu so Yolei would leave her alone.

"Sorry," TK mouthed at Kari as Yolei screamed and grabbed hold of the brunette.

"Don't worry Kari, I'll help you find a new boyfriend. One who's cuter and more handsome and sexier and way better than that filthy lowlife jerk you were dating before." "Uhh, Yolei, I'm right here," TK remarked, completely shocked at Yolei's both insulting and, rather, blunt words.

"Oh, uhh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that," she stuttered apologetically, "my mouth sometimes says things before my head can think over them first."

TK rolled his eyes at the violet-haired girl, "forgive Yolei," came Ken's voice behind him, "she can be rather thoughtless sometimes." TK chuckled slightly at Ken's comment.

The teens spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing in the digital sunlight with their partners. Davis and Veemon played a friendly game of soccer with Ken and Wormmon. Cody and Armadillomon laid back in the shade trying their best to ignore Yolei who was busy explaining her future plans all the while Kari sat quietly, cringing at half of Yolei's 'suggestions'. TK sat slightly apart from the others, Patamon nestled in his arms keeping a safe watch of his partner trying to figure out what was clearly bothering him. He may have seemed like everything was back to normal between him and Kari and the others, but it was their special connection that allowed the little orange Digimon to know something was off with the fair-haired blonde.

* * *

**I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter, I didn't think my first fic would get this much attention.**

**I'm on my summer vacation now, so hopefully I can get chapters published sooner.**

**I'm already working on the next chapter so stay patient.**

**Thanks again to all of you,**

**TKViedarts**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated but I had a really hard time feeling inspired for this chapter, and then I had a couple cases of writer's block trying to push it along, and blah blah blah.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like it, enjoy!**

* * *

TK remained in his seat, unmoving, so deep in thought he hadn't even heard the loud screech of the bell dismissing them from class.

"TK? You better get moving or you'll be late for your next class," his math teacher called from her desk. TK looked up to see her stern, yet concerned face watching him.

"Sorry," he muttered as he grabbed his things and headed for the door.

"And TK, whatever has been going on in that head of yours, you better sort it out, you've been awfully distracted this week," she added, glaring daggers at him.

"Sorry," he repeated as he bowed his head and rushed out of the class before she could lecture him any further.

His teacher was right though, he had been awfully distracted this week, and not just in his math class, he had received similar lectures from his English and History teachers as well.

He wasn't sure why, but something was bothering him, and he couldn't figure out exactly what it even was.

It had been a week since he had broken things off with Kari, and while the two had seemingly made up, things still felt off for TK, mostly between him and his friends, as if some dark eerie cloud hovered over them whenever they were together. Sure, things seemed like they were back to normal, but in TK's mind, something had drastically changed in the group between TK and the others, and it had made the blonde feel rather unsettled.

However, they were his friends, and avoiding them was out of the question, whether he felt weird around them or not. He figured this feeling of uneasiness would pass and things would go back to the way they were supposed to be… eventually.

* * *

"Takaishi! Hall! Now!"

TK made his way to the door feeling extremely embarrassed, his face nearly as red as Sora's hair. Feeling everyone's eyes upon him he carefully opened the door and slipped out as quickly as possible, closing it silently behind him.

He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the cold floor of the hallway and proceeded to stare at his shoes.

He thought his History teacher had been rather harsh to send him out to the hall, but then again, this had been the third time this week he had been reprimanded for not paying attention in class. TK wasn't particularly fond of History, he wasn't bad at it, but he found the subject to be rather dull most of the time, and with a teacher whose voice could cure insomnia, it was rather difficult to pay attention most days.

He sat quietly, waiting for the bell to ring, dreading yet another lecture from his History teacher about his wandering mind.

"Motomiya! Hall! Now!"

TK looked up to the door across from him upon hearing the voice of a rather angry teacher shouting. The door opened and Davis carefully made his way into the hall. He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor in a similar manner as to what TK had done moments ago.

Davis looked in TK's direction and gasped when he saw the blonde sitting in the hall across from him.

"TK? What are you doing out here?" he asked quietly, trying his best not to draw the wrath of his teacher once more.

"Wasn't paying attention in class."

"Haha, Mr. Perfect got sent out to the hall," Davis sneered.

TK rolled his eyes and breathed a heavy sigh, "Oh yeah? What did you do this time Davis?" he asked nonchalantly, feeling rather unsurprised that Davis had been sent out to the hall.

Davis blushed, "I was trying to ask Kari something so I threw a ball of paper to get her attention but uh… I kinda missed and hit the teacher."

TK snickered, trying his best to keep it stifled, but was unable to when he saw the blush creep up Davis' cheeks in embarrassment.

"Keep it quiet blondie, or else you'll get me in even more trouble," Davis hissed standing up and slowly peeking into the classroom to make sure the teacher was not coming his way before sitting down again and breathing a sigh of relief. TK silenced his giggles as best he could until Davis gave him a final glare and the blonde snapped quiet, feeling his own cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

The boys conversed quietly for a few minutes, talking about their classes and their current goings on in their lives, including TK's mother's big trip for her job before reminiscing about their more dangerous adventures in the Digital World.

Davis made a move and finally asked what had been on his mind for the past week, "so TK… why _did_ you and Kari break up?"

TK shifted uncomfortably before muttering a half-assed answer under his breath, hoping Davis would change the subject and forget it. Davis, seeming to get the hint, looked away and focussed his attention on a couple girls gossiping at the end of the hallway.

The two boys sat in complete silence for a moment, the only sounds coming from their respective classrooms, and the clacking of another teacher's heels coming from down the hall.

Davis heaved a bored sigh and stared down the hallway. TK watched the burgundy-haired boys' eyes wander and once again felt his face warm up. He couldn't explain it, but for some reason he didn't feel weird around Davis the same way he had been feeling all week when he had been with everyone else. He felt like he could talk to Davis, be around him, without all of his thoughts consuming him, as if that dark ominous cloud had left the two of them alone.

The bell rang signalling the end of the period and Davis and TK quickly stood up backs to the walls as their classes emptied. Kari gave TK a worried glance as she walked past him and rolled her eyes when she saw Davis on the opposite wall. Davis' teacher called him from his classroom and Davis obediently followed. TK felt a hand on his shoulder and followed his teacher into the classroom, unhappily awaiting the upcoming monotonous lecture to follow.

* * *

Davis and TK made their way towards the table with their friends carefully weaving through the students and chairs with their full trays. Davis nimbly dodged an apple that a member of the soccer team threw at his head before smiling back at them and giving them the finger, nearly dropping his tray in the process.

A dark-haired girl from TK's class cut in front of the two boys blocking their path, "Hi TK," she said, smiling at the blonde.

"Uh… h-hi," he stammered uncomfortably.

"So, I uh, heard you and Kari broke up."

"You're only hearing this now?" Davis interjected, "Jeez, that's old news, Yolei spread that around school on Monday before classes even started."

The girl turned and scowled at Davis before turning her attention back to TK. "I was wondering if you'd like to hang out after school with me."

TK blushed and cleared his throat before finally mumbling out a response, "Well, uh… that's very nice, but uh… I'm kinda busy tonight with homework a-and stuff."

The girl understood the hint and simply turned on her heel angrily leaving the two boys standing there.

"Why did you say no?" Davis asked, "that girl is on the cheerleading squad and it's rumoured she puts out on the first date too."

TK rolled his eyes, "look Davis, I've had girls asking me all week since Yolei opened her big mouth about me and Kari, and I'm just not that interested in any of them."

"Meh, whatever, your loss."

The two finally made it to the table and sat down. Kari gave TK a disapproving look and TK could feel the ominous cloud return as Yolei and Ken joined the brunette girl in staring him down. The boy sunk into his seat feeling as if he was about to be interrogated.

"What?!" he finally asked as their stares continued for what he considered to be much longer than normal.

The three averted their gaze from the blonde and went back to eating their lunches and conversing amongst themselves as if there was nothing wrong, though TK could still feel them staring at him again every so often.

"Hey… TK… watch this," Davis whispered to him. TK looked on as Davis grabbed an orange and chucked it across the cafeteria to hit the soccer team goalie square in the back of the head, splitting on impact and splattering several team mates around him. Angry shouts and cusses were echoed back towards the boy who was too busy holding his sides in pain from laughing.

TK had joined Davis in the laughter, doubled over in pain as he held his sides and tried to calm down. As he tried to catch his breath a thought came to him; normally he would have scowled at Davis' immature pranks or rolled his eyes at his idiocy, but today, for some reason, he felt comfortable with Davis acting like a child and was actually enjoying it.

Davis' laughter was soon silenced by a kick under the table from Yolei directed at his shin. "OW! Yolei, what the hell? Can't a guy have any fun around here?"

"You're sixteen Davis, act like it. And since when did you laugh at Davis' stupid stunts TK? Don't tell me you're turning into him… getting kicked out of class, spacing out, Kari told me you barely passed your last math test… what is up with you?" Yolei questioned angrily.

A fire suddenly erupted inside him, and before he knew what he was doing he had stood up, slamming his hands upon the table.

"Why is it any of your business, huh? Why can't you leave people alone for once Yolei, why do you have to butt your big nose into other people's lives?" he shouted angrily, causing everyone in the cafeteria to turn in their direction.

Yolei stood up to meet TK's angry gaze with one of her own, "Hey, don't get mad at me I'm only trying to-"

"To what Yolei? Help? You don't help, you just like to insert yourself into everyone's lives because you think you can and nobody will say no to you. Well here I am, I'm saying no, so why don't you just mind your own business you obnoxious bitch!"

A loud smack echoed through the cafeteria as Yolei's hand made contact with TK's face. Kari gasped. Ken stood up to hold Yolei back from striking their friend more than once. Davis stood, blocking TK in case Yolei attempted another swing. TK simply stood there, silent. The room was coated with an unnatural silence.

The bell ending lunch rang through the school. TK exited the cafeteria as eyes from every direction followed his movement towards the doors and into the hallway. Soon the sound of chairs scraping the floors was heard as everyone followed suit, making their way out of the cafeteria and flooding into the school hallways. The four friends remained there briefly in silence, before awkwardly making their separate ways to their lockers.

"Davis!" Kari called, running to catch up to the boy.

"What?" Davis asked sullenly.

"You and TK have gym next, right?"

"So?"

"Sooo, could you please talk to him? There's something wrong and I'm worried."

"Why would he talk to me? We aren't exactly best friends. Why can't you talk to him?"

"Because, we haven't really been talking this week, he's just been really distant. You've noticed it too, right?"

"Not really."

"Well, you two seem to have gotten really chummy all of a sudden, so why don't you just talk to him and see, okay?"

"Fine. But you better talk to Yolei, she was way out of line."

"Well so was TK."

"Yeah well he was right, Yolei needs to learn to keep out of other people's business sometimes."

Kari frowned angrily and turned her back as she left for her next class. Davis watched her go before making his way to the changing rooms for class.

* * *

Davis looked over to his friend and comrade. The bright red handprint still fresh on his pale skin. Davis had made his best effort to talk to TK, but TK had been making an even better effort at avoiding everyone, including Davis, as their class ran laps around the gymnasium. Whenever Davis caught up, TK would speed up and distance himself further. Davis decided to wait until their teacher let them stop to catch their breath.

"Ok class, everyone take a breather, then get into pairs and grab a football. Practice passing and catching until you can both be standing on opposite sides of the gym without dropping the ball," the teacher blew his whistle to signal the start to their exercise.

Davis ran up to TK finally hoping to get two words out of the blonde. TK grabbed a football, took a few steps back and threw it as hard as he could at Davis. Unprepared for the throw, Davis ducked avoiding the football which then hit their teacher in the back.

"Who threw that?!" he shouted angrily, looking around at the scared adolescent faces.

Davis ran up to the teacher, looking up into his extremely intimidating face. Word around the school was that he had been a drill sergeant, dismissed for killing a private who disobeyed his orders.

"It was my fault sir, TK threw the ball and I ducked and-"

"Office! Now! Both of you!" he shouted. Davis cowered then felt a tug on his shirt as TK began pulling him towards the door, unquestioning of his punishment.

Davis stared at TK as they made their way to the office. He didn't say a word as TK told the secretary why they were there and the two sat together quietly waiting for the principal to show her cranky, wrinkled face.

Davis had sat here on multiple different occasions, and dreaded having a lecture from the principal on every of those occasions. Her terrifying face staring him down, the millions of wrinkles furrowing her brow as she arched her eyebrows and yelled her disapproval at his disobedience.

This time however, Davis was enthralled by TK. He couldn't understand what was going on in the blonde's head. He understood now what Kari had been talking about. TK had been acting different, not just today, but the entire week. He hadn't really been paying attention to it, although, he didn't pay attention to most things that weren't sports, television or video games, but, it was true. Something was wrong with TK. He sat there next to him, completely stone-faced, as if he wasn't worried whatsoever of what was to come. It was like he didn't even care.

He was about to ask TK if he was alright when the principal appeared in the doorway, "Mr. Motomiya! Why am I not surprised to see you hear again?! What did you do this time, hmm? Break another window? Another door? … Another toilet?" Her dark eyes peeked over her thick glasses, boring through Davis.

"It was my fault ma'am," came TK's quiet voice.

The principal, startled by the unfamiliar voice, looked past Davis to see the blonde sitting there. "Umm… well, uh… both of you please come into my office so we can discuss this." She waved her hand motioning the two boys to lead the way into her small office.

* * *

"Are you gonna tell me what's up?" Davis asked TK, his voice echoing off the changing room walls.

"What are you talking about?" the blonde responded as he began changing into his regular clothes.

"I'm talking about the fact that you've been acting weird all week, and especially today, I mean, what was with that outburst? I've never seen you act like this dude."

"Yeah, well, it's none of your business. Why do you even care? Half the time we can't even stand each other's guts. Why are you so concerned about me all of a sudden?"

TK felt a hand grip tightly around his arm, Davis was stood mere inches from TK as he pulled the blonde to look him squarely in the face.

"Because, TK, you're my friend," Davis stated, and TK could tell he was being completely sincere, the concern was written all over his face, "I know we don't always get along, but we're friends and fellow Digidestined, so we always have to have each other's backs. So please… tell me what's wrong."

TK bowed his head, he could feel all his feelings beginning to bubble up inside of him. He wanted to let them gush out like a geyser and tell Davis everything he had been feeling over the last week. All of the hurt and confusion. All of the pain and anguish. How he had spent every night of the last week laying in bed for hours, pondering why everything felt so wrong to him and how he would eventually cry himself to sleep. How he couldn't explain why his best friend, the girl he had used to think he would spend the rest of his life with, suddenly didn't invoke those feelings anymore.

"Davis, I-," his thought was interrupted by the screech of the bell, "I'll tell you later," he rushed as he shoved on his shoes and ran to the door.

"TK wait!" Davis shouted.

"What is it?" the blonde asked, his hand hovering on the door handle.

"Thanks for your fast-talking back there. You really saved my ass."

"Hey, you didn't deserve to be punished for that, it was my fault. Good thing I'm in her good books and was able to keep us both out of trouble." He smiled as he pulled the door open and quickly passed through it, leaving Davis alone in the humid changing room to mull over his thoughts before quickly realizing how late he was for his next class.

"Oh shit!" he cursed under his breath as he skipped changing and decided to hurry to his class. TK wouldn't be there to talk him out of another lecture from the principal if he was late for class… again.

* * *

"TK!" came a shout from down the hallway. TK groaned and bowed his head defeated as he slammed his locker shut. Even from the opposite end of the hall and surrounded by the drone of voices around him, he could still clearly hear Davis calling his name as if the boy had been standing right next to him.

TK watched as a mop of burgundy hair weaved its way through the crowd of students, popping up above the other heads as Davis jumped up to make sure TK was still at his locker.

When he finally reached the blonde, Davis paused for a moment to catch his breath before cheerfully smiling and asking, "So TK, what'cha doing?"

"Going home," he responded curtly.

"I was thinking, why don't we hang out this weekend?" Davis asked, his smile never faltering even with TK's not so cheerful mood.

"Why?" TK asked, feeling rather unsure with Davis' desire to be around him all of a sudden.

"Why?" Davis repeated, confused by TK's reaction, as if hanging out with him were an absolute honour and that anybody would have been flattered.

"Yeah, Why?" TK repeated once more, "Let me guess… Ken is too busy to hang out, Cody has his kendo tournament this weekend, and all the other Digidestined are preoccupied, so you're asking your last resort since you're bored."

Davis felt a little hurt by TK's comment, but at the same time, most of what he had said was true. Ken and Cody were unavailable this weekend, and it seemed, so was everyone else. However, his intentions for asking the blonde had been completely sincere.

"Because, we've been friends for how long? Four years, now? And yet we've never actually spent time together, just the two of us."

TK thought this over. It was true. Sure, they had become closer friends since their battle against Malomyotismon, even though they continued to make friendly jabs at the other's expense. They had heated arguments every so often as well, though they had never come to blows again.

But Davis was right. They had become much better friends, but they had never actually spent time together unless they were with the others.

"Well?" Davis asked, excitedly anticipating TK's response, bouncing on the balls of his feet, "how about it TK?"

A smile crossed the blonde's face. The idea actually excited him and made him feel cheerful again.

"Sure."

Davis practically rocketed off the ground in excitement, "This is gonna be awesome. A whole weekend just hanging out, video games, junk food. This is gonna be so much fun." He ceased his jumping momentarily as a thought dawned on him, "Wait… aren't you all alone at home right now… y'know, you're mom is still on her trip?"

"Yeah… why do you ask?"

Davis' excitement hit a new level and TK thought the burgundy-haired boy was about to explode.

"Why don't I come over tonight? We could have, like, a sleepover?"

"I'm not so sure about that," TK responded, shifting his weight uncomfortably, feeling somewhat unsure about the whole idea now.

"Oh, come on dude. It must get kinda lonely being there all by yourself. And I mean, your mom doesn't have to know about it, and I promise I won't make a mess or break anything. I'll be the perfect houseguest. Digidestined Honour," he added as he ended his plea, placing his hand upon his chest in a mock pose.

TK chuckled at Davis' enthusiasm before finally giving in, "Okay, fine. But you have to promise to not act like a bull in a china shop, making all kinds of ruckus at all hours of the night. And, you have to chip in for half of the pizza we order."

"Deal," he said as he reached out his hand to shake TK's, which the blonde happily accepted. "I'll see you tonight TJ!" he shouted as he ran off down the hallway.

TK laughed again as another smile crossed his lips. Maybe this was just the kind of thing he needed right now to help him get his mind off things.

* * *

**Thanks everyone for being so patient with me, I promise the next couple chapters will come out a lot quicker than this one did. They're already mostly planned out they just need to be made out now.**

**And thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed/liked/favourited this story, it means a lot knowing that you guys are liking it so far.**

**And for those of you who have been reading but haven't commented, it would mean a lot to me if you did, even if it's just a few words, every comment let's me know you want me to keep going with this.**

**I also might start working on additional works that are more adventure based, or maybe even a Taito (Tai/Matt), or another Daikeru fic I want to write, if you guys are interested let me know.**


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